Detective recounts rabbi's interview about the Piscopos

GOSHEN — A detective testified Friday morning in Orange County Court about the initial interview of Victor Koltun after the slayings of Gerald and Francis Piscopo.

BY HEATHER YAKIN

GOSHEN — A detective testified Friday morning in Orange County Court about the initial interview of Victor Koltun after the slayings of Gerald and Francis Piscopo.

Koltun, 44, a rabbi from Brooklyn, is on trial on first-degree murder charges in the Nov. 4, 2010, deaths of Gerald Piscopo, 28, and Francis Piscopo, 49. Prosecutors say Koltun hired two ex-cons to kill Francis to stop his debt-collection efforts, and that Gerald Piscopo died because he drove his uncle to the meeting. Koltun's lawyer, Glen Plotsky, has argued that Koltun hired the men for protection because he feared Francis, and they killed the Piscopos on their own.

City of Newburgh police Detective Thomas Nafey testified Friday for Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne about the Nov. 6, 2010, interview of Koltun at the state police barracks in Liberty.

Nafey said Koltun was there for three hours, and described meeting Nov. 4 in Newburgh with a man he called Angelo Rizzi — actually Francis Piscopo. Rizzi was collecting on money Koltun owed to a guy named Sam.

On the video, Koltun tells police Rizzi and his associates had previously menaced him with a gun and assaulted him at a kosher Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn. Koltun said he and Rizzi met on Nov. 4 so he could pay and Rizzi could give him a release. Koltun said he brought $3,000, about $1,000 of it borrowed from his father.

Koltun described the meeting: His driver dropped him off at 12 Liberty St. between 3 and 4 p.m. and waited in the car. Rizzi arrived with a younger man. Inside the house, Rizzi asked for the money, and Koltun asked for the release. When Koltun pulled out the money, the younger man grabbed him and Rizzi hit him in the head with a cane. Koltun spun free from them and exited the house. The men didn't follow. He called his driver, and they left.

Ninety minutes into the video, police told Koltun that Francis and Gerald Piscopo are dead. Koltun gasped. He told them he was sorry it happened, but he had no knowledge of it.

He stopped responding to police and began breathing rapidly.

Police offered Koltun, who has diabetes and epilepsy, medical help. Nafey calmed him and helped Koltun use his asthma inhaler.